To a Beloved Student---
I hope that you have taken genuine enjoyment in these first few weeks of second semester in your first year as a university student.
Approached in the correct manner, the university years are very precious. There is an opportunity to meet new people, develop a diversity of friends, align your time so as to interact with people of high moral character and driving intellectual interests, and move toward those stratospheric heights of humanity that Plato sees beyond the Cave, pondering the realm of Ideal Forms; and that the psychologist Abraham Maslow identifies with the "self-actualized" person.
There is also the opportunity to develop those life values that Robert Kennedy attributed to those of moral courage, that Albert Schweitzer associated with those who know that happiness lies in serving others, and that Martin Luther King envisioned at the mountaintop of human experience.
We have only one chance at this earthly sojourn.
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I have loved you as a daughter ever since you first entered my world at Grade 3, now going on eleven years ago. I have striven to give you my very best in academic instruction, moral counsel, and practical advice.
I will always be ready to help you in any way that I can.
In these respects you are to me as is my beloved son, Ryan--- because as fervently as I love my precious son, I have loved you in like manner.
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In the ideas that I presented to you from great thinkers in that radiant spring 2015 of your senior year, and in my Meditations on the Art of Living document that I generated for you last summer--- my motivation was to communicate to you the joy in striving for life at the mountaintop, the life of moral courage, the full internalization of Schweitzer's dictum that "The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who have sought--- and found--- how to serve."
Remember always to be a person of love, caring deeply about other people, treating them with kindness, sharing ideas and experiences of your own and thinking carefully about what other people have to say.
I am very proud of your perseverance during your first year at the university, and I am glad that you have been able to maneuver so as to handle the financial aspects of being a university student.
You have given yourself a chance to succeed, and to lead your family toward a better quality of life.
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My most important counsel to you continues as ever, extended in an enduring spirit that wishes you all best in every activity >>>>>
Enjoy your life.
Treasure each moment.
Embrace the good, the wholesome, and the uplifting on this one earthly sojourn.
Give thanks to the Divine in a spirit full of gratitude for the abundant opportunities bestowed on you in the course of this academic year.
As you move deeper into second semester, put that great brain to work in full measure while building relationships with intellectually astute and ethically principled people.
Be joyful and blessed in all that you do, knowing with each careful step you take how much I love you---
Gary
So touching and deep! It felt as if the message was addressed to me personally!
ReplyDeleteRyan must be so lucky to have you as a father.
I wonder if I can discuss with you the burnout syndrome of teachers and its impact on the students. I am a firm believer that it's one of the major causes of bullying that some students may be sujects to.
I have recently started teaching junior medical students ( 3rd , 5th years) I enjoy it so much, I also used some of your advices to make their learning experience as fun and beneficial as possible.I'm still a medical resident and cared for by my senior attendings , this means that sometimes I am subject to what I (sometimes) think of as degrading comments.
The problem is this happens in front of my students, and lately I started doubting my ability as a resident and educator. I thrive to inspire my students to be the best doctors they can be but with those incidents of harrasement coming from my senior attendings I seem to lose control over things and it's both confusing and frustrating. I did a small research and found out that some of my senior teachers may have the burnout syndrome and I'd like to discuss my findings with you and get an analysis from you, sir.
Thanks for your daily dose of inspiration!
Hayet---
ReplyDeleteThank you for your sweet comments--- Please send me an email at garymarvindavison@gmail.com--- and we can begin to think about a time and place for the discussion that you want to have.